“What is it he thinks he’s doing here?” asks Jason Stverak, president of the Franklin Center. “Does he think he has the authority to oversee state legislatures? Is it his job to tell citizens and groups what sort of policies they may advocate? What about tracking down all the members of that group?

“Why not just ask it: are we now or have we ever been members of the American Legislative Exchange Council?”

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen Dick Durbin (D-Ill) contacted the
Goldwater Institute to inquire about the private organization's
relationship to the American Legislative Exchange Council--most notably,
whether the Institute has supported ALEC in the past or endorsed the
group's "Stand Your Ground" model legislation. The following is a
response by Goldwater Institute senior staff to Sen Durbin's office, and
this letter (pasted below) will be sent to the office of Sen Durbin
today.

ATTN: THE OFFICES OF SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN

We
are in receipt of your letter dated August 6, 2013 requesting
information about the Goldwater Institute’s relationship with the
American Legislative Exchange Council and whether or not we support the
“Stand Your Ground” legislation adopted as a model bill by that group.

"Have You No Sense of Decency?"

That
was the question posed by attorney Joseph Welch that historians credit
with ending the Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch-hunt.

It
is the same question we pose to your office today in response to your
effort to intimidate us for daring to associate with the free market,
limited government organization known as the American Legislative
Exchange Council.

Simply
put, especially in the wake of IRS intimidation and harassment of
conservative organizations, your inquisition is an outrage.

We
refuse to answer whether we are or ever have been a supporter of ALEC
or its model legislation. We refuse to answer not because we disavow
ALEC—far from it. We refuse to answer because as free Americans, that is
our right.

Your
attempt to silence your fellow Americans through threats and
intimidation because they don't share identical political beliefs is
disgraceful and not worthy of the title you hold.